Recreation Insider

Embarrassment can be a tremendous motivational tool. On April 22, it powered Azle resident Brian Miller to a national title.

Miller, 31, won the 1,650-yard freestyle in the men's 30-34 division at the U.S. Masters National Swimming Championships in Indianapolis. His time of 18 minutes, 33.36 seconds made him the first national champion in Fort Worth-based Team Ridglea's three-year history.

A former swimmer at Boswell, Miller stopped swimming competitively after graduating in 1991 and focused on coaching. Six years later, while leading Fort Worth's Northwest YMCA team, he entered a coaches' relay.

His performance was hardly championship-worthy.

"My kids were making fun of me for getting beat," said Miller, a mental health therapist in Fort Worth. "It was very inspiring."

The mouthful of humble pie awakened Miller's hunger for swimming. He started training again. Two years ago, he joined Team Ridglea. Then at nationals, he overwhelmed the field with a strong finish.

"When he first started out, I thought, 'This is not going to be a good swim for him,' but he just never dies," Team Ridglea coach Chuck Burr said. "He was like the Energizer bunny. He just kept going and going."

Now the swimmer who used to be too slow has a gold medal.

"It's kind of cool," Miller said. "Most of the guys swimming masters are former college swimmers, and I wasn't fast enough to swim in college. Now I'm swimming the best times of my life while some of these other guys are slipping off. I guess I'm peaking too late."

More like right on time.